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Squad 403: Down
What's up guys, It's Danny here With yet ANOTHER attempt to actually complete one of these stories. Basically, I never really sorted through the plots of the last one, so, I'll work on that, but for now, here is a story about everyone's favorite Spartan, Alex-712. Enjoy, if you want to. Chapter 1 (Miss me?) Wind rocks the passenger bat of the pelican gunship, and I brace my arm against the wall to steady myself. "Sir, sit down before you get sucked outside," Andrew-908 remarks, "We don't need any unnecessary casualties before our suicide mission." "Ak, for the thousandth time, shut up," Nikki remarks from the cockpit, "This is not a suicide mission, it's an investigation into a possible covie terrorist group." "Personally, I think it's a bad idea to be raiding our new allies cities, it might reopen a rift that we worked so hard to close," says Eden as she checks our readings. "Cut the chatter team, this is a diplomatic mission," I mutter, making sure my energy sword is attached to my MJOLNIR armor. Ak turns his head and scoffs, muttering something about politics as he loads his rifle. That's when the first explosion happens. I hit the floor with a thud that would've cracked my skull had I not had my helmet on. Plasma fire burns through the hull of our ship as Nikki desperately maneuvers the clumsy craft. "Return fire!" I shout to my team, who immediately snaps into action. I grab a DMR, load a pistol and check for my sword again, all the while assessing the situation. "So I guess we were right about those terrorists huh?" Eden says as she activates the pelican's defensive weaponry. Our back hatches open and I get a glimpse of the chaos. Covenant Banshee flyers harass our group of six pelicans, each with an elite team of Spartans aboard. As I watch, one of the pelicans is hit in the engine, and promptly catches fire. The craft explodes in midair, taking its crew with it. I grab a nearby rocket launcher and try to line up a shot, but the flyers are simply too nimble for the rockets. AK seems to compromise by firing sniper rounds at the craft, which manage to make multiple impacts. One craft spins out of control, it's pilot jettisoning before it explodes in a purple fireball. The pilot, a ranger class manages to use his Jetpack to land on top of our ship. "Eden, Nikki, keep the fighters off of us. AK, you're with me," I order, hoisting myself onto the back of the craft. AK grabs a Jetpack and levitates up to meet me. The elite is holding an energy dagger, hacking at our circuitry. AK fires a shot, which misses the elite's hand by inches, but get's his attention. I unclip my sword from my belt and activate it, it's unique yellow glow illuminating the darkness that is setting in as night falls. AK aims his rifle again, but the weapon clicks without firing, and before he can reload, the ranger jumps on AK, slicing his weapon in half. I slice toward him, but he manages to deflect my blade before I can score a hit. The ranger tears AK's Jetpack off his back, tossing it off the craft. AK tries to struggle but the elite plunges his dagger into his chest, breaking his shields and penetrating his armor. "No!" I scream as I shakily equip my shotgun and blast the elite backwards, with AK still in his arms. The dying Sangheili loses his balance, and he topples over the side of the craft, taking AK with him, into the darkness. I stare into the blackness, trying to locate my teammate and friend, but see only the cold, hard truth staring back at me. I tell myself to stand, to turn my attention back to the mission, but before I do, a Banshee swoops down toward us, out of our cannon's radius. A green plasma bomb erupts from the cannons, and strikes our craft in the engine. I grip the ship's hull desperately as the pelican begins nosedive into the ground, hundreds of feet below. Chapter 2: Falling Falling is a curious thing. You lose all sense of direction, and it's like you're weightless. It's almost relaxing, if you can manage to overlook the fact that you are hurtling towards the ground at a hundred miles an hour. Wind rushes through my ears as I cling to a burnt panel of the pelican's hull. I hear the screams of Nikki and Eden from inside the pelican as they attempt to right the doomed craft's decent. Banshees fire at us, just to make sure, and plasma bolts barely miss my head as they further burn the ship. Another blast of green fire erupts from our engine, throwing the craft sideways, and I lose my grip on the paneling. I flail my arms, trying to find another handhold, but I fall away from the pelican, slipping off and plummeting even faster. I stare up as the ground rushes to meet me, watching the burning craft nosedive. I bring my shields up to maximum strength, and then I hit the ground. All the air leaves my lungs. My shields break almost instantly. I'm certain I can actually hear a few ribs and my arm breaking. My armor cracks as I roll several feet, falling over rocks on the dry desert ground. A deafening explosion signals the crash of the pelican; I catch a glimpse of burning, twisted metal flying through the air. How anyone, even a spartan, could survive that, I don't know. I stop rolling and stare at the sky. Pelican dropships are dodging all over the place, making drastic maneuvers to avoid the swarm of Banshee fighters. Only two of our ships are left. As I begin to slip into unconsciousness, I see one of them erupts into a fireball, leaving nothing but small bits of shrapnel to fall to the ground. Darkness creeps in and my HUD shuts off. I can only see the scene from the tinted glass of my visor. My eyes close and I pass out. Chapter 3: (I couldn't think of a dramatic enough title chapter.) Light seeps through my cracked visor. I druggedly pull myself out of the lull of unconsciousness. The first feeling I have is pain, all over. My head aches horribly. My ribs are burning. My arm is twisted and broken. I can barely feel my legs. Then I notice the heat. As this planet is mostly desert, it is rather hot. My armor should adjust its internal temperature, but as it seems as if every system of the armor is broken. I raise my arms stiffly and remove the Recon class helmet from my head. I then pull myself into a sitting position, and the feeling my legs returns. Mostly pain, but at least they can move. The twin suns of Sangheilos burn my eyes I stare into the horizon. Distantly, I can just see the skyline of the city we were headed to. Much closer is the wreckage of our pelican. Determination reenters my mind as I think of my team, possibly pinned under the burning ship, if they were even alive. I stumble forwards, limping horribly as I take the painful step after step. It takes almost twenty minutes for me to reach the burning craft, which was only about 50 feet from where I landed. A hunk of broken glass shards and twisted metal represents the cockpit. I search inside and find no bodies, strangely. I pull myself out on top of it and search around. I look toward the horizon and see a group of approaching covenant vehicles. I take a tentative step backwards and fall through the empty window of the pelican. My head slams into a dangling pipe as I fall and pass out in the pilot's chair. Chapter 4: Rescue...or something Well that was embarrassing. Voices echo around in my concussed addled mind. "Looks like a bad crash here." "Burn the bodies." "worthless wreckage." I snap back into reality as I realize who the voices belong to: Elites. "I guess this is all we'll find here, torch it up, and don't leave anything behind. We don't want the Black Knights finding out we were here." calls one of them. I open my eyes a sliver and see three elites in red armor with white trim. One of them starts poking around near the remains of the cockpit, where I am lying helplessly. I close my eyes and look as dead as possible, but it doesn't do much good as I hear the elite call, "Hey we got a live one!" "Touch me and I will kill you!" I spit threateningly as the other two gather around me. I try to stand to meet the leader's eyes, when a sudden wave of nausea hits me and I fall back into the chair. "Well, I'm just horrified," chuckles the leader, "Now tell me pilot, where's your crew?" "This isn't my ship but I'll surely fight you for the crew," I say through clenched teeth. "Oh look at the little human, trying to act tough," coos one of them, "If you haven't heard comrade, the war between us is over. Course that was quite a crash." "My team and I, along with some others were looking for some possible terrorist activity out here, would you know of anything going on?" I ask, trying to grasp some information. "Terrorists? Please. The city of Shrilach is a peaceful one. The last thing you'd find here are extremists," says the third elite, a little too enthusiastically. (Author's Note: There is no way I spelled that right and I'm sorry, it's 12:30 a.m.) "Right, okay. Well, if any of you could possibly help me find my team then that would be great," I begin, before the leader grabs my throat in a choking four-finger grip. "Human scum, you shall never hope to defeat the Black Kni-" The elite's tirade is interrupted as the third elite, the one who led the others to me, draws a knife across the leader's back. He falls over with a smoking wound cut across his armor, and before the other can draw his rifle, the rebellious elite stabs him in the neck and tosses him to the ground. "What the heck is going on here?!" I scream at the spectacle in front of me. The elite kicks the bodies before replying, "These slimebags right here are terrorists. Call themselves the "Black Knights". They have the entire city in an invisible iron fist. You have to help us, I'll help you find your team if they're still alive...and if we live long enough to find them." Chapter.... 4? Great, this again. "So...who are you exactly?" I ask the mysterious elite. "A friend of yours, an enemy of your enemies would be more accurate to be honest." he says quickly. "Whoa, calm down there," I mutter sarcastically, "You'll give me the warm and fuzzies." The elite chuckles at me and continues searching the wreckage. The desert sun beats down as I shuffle in the wreckage of my crashed Pelican, ignoring all the searing pain while searching desperately for my surviving teammates. If they're even alive still. While shuffling around, I manage to find a magnum pistol and snatch it. I find some spare clips with miraculously full capacity. I slap in a clip when I see something. Over by the pile of twisted metal where I found the gun, I see just the faintest glint of jet black armor. "Nikki?" I whisper, vaulting a crumpled wing and pushing at the hunk of metal over our pilot. "Give me a hand over here!" I shout to the elite. He rushes over, throwing his momentum into the metal and almost throwing it completely off the ground. The metal tips over, and reveals the injured form on Nikki-074. "Nikki!" I say. I remove her smashed helmet and look at her face. Not good. Her left eye is swelled shut and she's been coughing up blood. The fact that I can't tell if she's still alive is also a bit worrisome. "She doesn't look good." The elite murmurs as he takes out a medical kit marked with a red cross. He gets to work on the hundreds of cuts and gashes. "Is she alive?" I ask hopefully. "You know I never could tell with you humans, you have such strange anatomies, tell me, where is the heart again?" "Are you kidding me?!" I say breathlessly. "Well, I am a sangheili doctor, we weren't given any training concerning human anatomy other than where to aim!" he retorts. "But, I can tell that she seems to be breathing, and that she will come to in say...an hour or...seven." "Any way you can speed that up a bit? Didn't you mention something about...oh say, murderous gang members who will kill us on sight?" "Fine, but this is all I got," he says, then grabs a plasma pistol and fires an over charges it. "Clear!" he shouts and plunges the pistol onto Nikki's chest. The plasma dissipates over her shields but shocks Nikki awake. "GAH!" she shouts, recognizing her surroundings, she settles down a bit, staring at the two us with wide eyes. "Hello spartan, welcome back to the land of the living." I say with a smirk. "How are you feeling?" "Like I was inside a pelican that crashed, left in the desert for almost a day, then shocked awake by being shot in the chest." She says shortly, resting her bruised head on a burnt and crisped pelican seat. "Nice simile. This nice gentle-elite is going to patch you up while I go find Eden, m'kay?" I say in a mock cheerful tone. Nikki glares at me, while managing to roll her eyes at the same time. "Shut up, Sir." she says. I chuckle, "Glad to have you and your charming personality back, Nikki." Chapter Feeve. That...that says five. As I continue to search the rubble for Eden, I begin to gain a more alert sense of how bad my injuries actually are. My left arm is badly broken, along with at least 3 ribs. I think I might even have a collapsed lung. I have multiple third degree burns and, not to mention, a first rate painful concussion. All of this would make any poor soul feel pretty sluggish, but when that soul is dragging half a ton of worthless armor, it's a lot worse. At one point, I almost give up and collapse. In the distance, from my position on the ground, I see what I think it another crashed pelican. I focus on it and see a parked covie spectre by it. I lower myself to the ground and try to view the far away scene with my enhanced vision. I have to look away as two of the Black Knights, as they call themselves, methodically butcher any body, living or dead, they find. Then they hop in their vehicle and drive towards us. "Of. freaking. course." I mutter to myself. I crawl as fast and quietly back to the elite and Nikki, who is still be treated for even more serious injuries than mine. The yet-unnamed elite mentioned ruptured lungs, an intestine rip, and perhaps brain damage. He looks at the approaching scouts and swears under his breath, "Scouts, they'll find us and kill us if we can't hide , don't bother playing dead, they will tear you to bits, regardless." "Maybe they can lead us to Eden," I say hopefully, but the elite shakes his head. A few minutes later, the elite is partially buried under a mound of rock and a wing of the ship. I'm crouched among circuitry with Nikki tucked, unconsious, in a cubby behind me. I grib the knife still strapped in it's hilt across my chest. I quietly un sheath it and grip it will trembling fingers. Not from fear, I observe, but from shear exhaustion, I haven't slept in far too long, not to mention crashing into the ground did some real wonders for me. I hear the two Knights stumbling around, shifting over supplies. "Heh, this bird took a beatin' eh?" one of them laughs gruffly. "Yes, it did, hard to believe we'll even find any bodies. I actually watched this one go down, shot out it's second engine as it fell for good measure, ha. Watched one of 'em fly off the back of the ship!" the other laughs as he effortlessly shoves a large metal hunk onto it's side. "Oi, I found one!" shouts the first elite, hoisting the unconsious form of Eden out of the rubble. I gape at her armor, even worse for wear than Nikki or Mine. She's got multiple gashes up her side, her arm looks almost unrecognisable. Her visor has shattered, and I see that some of the glasses flecks barely missed her eye. It's partially attached still, so all I can see is one vacant, staring, blue eye. The other elite aims a plasma rifle at her dangling body and I make a rash decision. I jump up and throw a small piece of metal at the elite holding the rifle; it pings of his hand, but he drops the weapon. The two elites cock their heads sideways and look at me incredously. The first one drops Eden, who lands face first on the hard, rocky ground. I unclip the pistol and try to aim it, but my eye can't focus on the sight and my arm won't stand still. I shakily fire three rounds, of which only one hits. The injured elite clutches thigh and topples over. I hold out my knife, and the other elite draws an energy sword. "Oh well, that's a bit larger than mine," I mutter. My opponent rushes forward and elbows me in the face. I lose my balance and topple over; he places his foot on my chest and holds the swords prongs to my neck. "Any last words Human scum?" He says, and spits on me. Then he coughs, and blood spurts onto my face. "Eweagh," I sputter. The elite falls off of me, a knife buried in the back of his head. Standing behind him, leaning heavily on one leg, stans Eden. "Hey boss, nice save there, figured I owed you one," she says with a cheerful tone before fainting. I catch her before she hits the ground, but with my left arm. Pain shoots through it and tears well in my eyes. I almost drop her from the sudden pain. The friendly elite rushes over and takes Eden from my arms and lays her over the pelican's wing. He frantically begins applying mecidines that I have no idea what they do. I fetch Nikki from the circuitry where we hid her emaciated body. Her breathing is beginning to pick up and I think I catch her eyes flutter for a second before settling back into unconsiousness. "Hey, it's about dark, let me take the first watch while I take care of your friends here, they're gonna take some patching up, but I think they might both pull through...no promises though." he says with a meloncholy tone. I thank him and settle under some of the pelican's hull. It occurs to me that I should feel uneasy about letting an elite I don't know guard my two surviving squadmates, not counting AK, who might somehow be out there somewhere, but I set my worries aside and slip into a deep, troubled sleep. Did I forget the chapter number again? Yes I did. I regret nothing. Early morning light and soreness wakes me up the instant I fall asleep. I sit up, which hurts, and spin my head to gaze at the still working elite, which also hurts. He looks up at me with tired eyes and carries on working. "How's it coming?" I choke out, which ALSO hurts. "Horribly...You're other friend here? Internal bleeding, cracked ribs, collapsed lung, I think she lost the use of her right arm, Concussion...I don't know if I can do anything without some more advanced equipment." He says ruefully. "Then we need to get some more advanced equipment. Cause I'd really rather not lose another teammate." I say groggily. "You truly care about them don't you?" he says, "I used to be a battlefield medic, and my leader would send me headfirst into battle without blinking an eye. He would toss aside the corpses of our brothers without a single acknowledgement. All those years, fighting ruthlessly against humans...and for nothing but empty words and lies." The elite turns back to tending to Eden, and I decide to give him some space. A couple of minutes later, he turns back around to face me. "Look, I know where we can find some medicine that MIGHT be able to help her, but it's in the middle of a terrorist infested city that wants our heads on a platter. I'm not joking they WOULD do that. We'll have to go incognito." he says. "Then, let's get a move on," I say, and slap a clip into a magnum. Author's Note: Hey guys, Danny and Sev here with an apology that tonights chapter was so short, I just came back from seeing Man of Steel (It was Super) and the speakers and visual effects combined to boost a HORRIBLE headache I've had all day so, I'm not up for concentration at the moment, not to worry I will make it up to y'all. Chapter Guess who's back, back again. The Elite and I stash the still unconscious Spartans under a small rock formation for safekeeping and stealthily approach the city. It's about noon when we begin to slink through the outer streets and slum districts. At times we take routes over, through, and even under some buildings. "Exactly what are we looking for here?" I ask my guide, "And why are we hiding from the elites? Haven't we all made nice now?" "You see, we have," he mutters, ducking behind a dumpster, "But this city is completely controlled by the Black Knights, and you never know who might just be one of them." "Then why didn't I stay back at the pelican and let you just go get the medicine?!" I hiss at him. His mandibles split into what I can only interpret as a self-conscious gasp. "Hmm, that would've made more sense, wouldn't it?" I slap my face with my good arm and draw my pistol. "I'm going back to the bird. Get what you need and get back there, fast. Got it?" "Got it, tread lightly, don't let your protectiveness of your team make you forget your our injuries. You're not fully healed either." he says, pointing at my injured leg. I nod silently and stroll backwards out of the crawlspace into an alleyway. I backtrack, keeping a careful pace, but not going slowly. I make sure my pistol is ready to fire and that I am as well. I can't help but notice my lack of strength, and the sluggishness in my step. I force my feet to move faster, thinking of my two remaining teammates back at base. Then I think about AK, and I remember watching that ranger plunge his knife into his chest. Ak may have been a bit out of control and cocky, but he deserved a more honorable death than that. My guilt over the entire fight, that I could've stopped, consumes and I trip forward, off of the fire escape I was perched on. I hit the street with a crack sending new waves of fresh pain to every injured portion of my body, which is to say, all of it. I feel content to lay on the ground in agony for a couple of hours before I'm hoisted to my feet, and am staring at a Black Knight. "Aw crap." I mutter. And then another Knight clips the back of my unshielded head and I'm unconscious. Again. Chapter I AM NOT GIVING UP ON THIS STORY I really hate headaches. Not the pounding, horrid ones that make you writhe in agony, but the ones with the kind of pain that hides. It sits in the back of your mind, not making real pain, but chasing away all thought and awareness. I peel my eyes open and find myself in a large and decorated room. My arms are held by chains tied to a pair of the many ornate columns in the dimly lit room. I'm kneeling on a red and gold patterned carpet, and my head is inclined towards a bright and shining throne. Around me stand dozens of the Black Knights, all aiming weapons at my unarmored head. "Wow, all this security for me?" I croak, "Aww you shouldn't have, I'm blushing." "Silence pathetic human!" shouts an all too familiar voice. From behind me emerges the form of the elite that had saved me and my teams' lives. The elite I had thought was friendly. The elite who is now pressing my own pistol to the back of my head. "Surprised?" he chuckles maniacally. I lash out with my foot and kick him in the shin, and the scum roars in pain. Moments later the back of the pistol slams into my skull. My headache worsens and I judge I have yet another concussion. I go limp and no longer fight back. Then the elite staggers by me and I see his armor: Jet black, with a very decorated helmet. Hatred and contempt boil in his eyes. "Perhaps you would learn discipline more...if something more important than yourself was on the line." He growls. "Show him the others!" The wall at the back of the chamber I reside in slides downward into the floor and reveals three figures. Strung to the wall, unconscious and lookinging horrible are Eden and Nikki. But, on top of that, I notice the last figure, his olive green armor horribly smashed, the gaping wound of an energy dagger still brand new in his chest. It's AK. Chapter... I am way too lazy and sick to go looking for the number. "A-.... What?!" I whisper in disbelief, happiness, worry, confusion...Gosh this isn't helping my head. My once ally, the still nameless terrorist leader smirks. "Surprised? I'm guessing you thought he was dead. Someone else I bet you thought was dead too: Come on out Thel!" In response to the command, a heavily scarred elite ranger steps out from behind a pillar. His helmet is spiderwebbed with cracks, and from what I can see through the visor, his face took some damage too. One of his mandibles is gone, another hanging limp. His armor is pockmarked with dents, and towards the chest, the armor is brand new, as if it has been replaced. "You don't know me, do you?" rasps the ranger, limping towards me, "You demons never take the time to honor your kills, one thing we Elites have the decency to do." He slaps me in the face, but he is still weak and I merely shrug off the blow. "Not ringing any bells," I spit. "Oh..." he chuckles, finishing in a coughing fit. "Perhaps this will jog your memory." He shambles quicker than I thought he could over to Ak's suspended body and plunges an energy dagger into his stomach, and Ak's body doesn't even stir. "You!" I say in horror, and then my thoughts come rushing back to the night of the crash. An elite ranger, stabbing Ak in the chest. Firing a shotgun blast into his chest, and watching them both slip off the pelican. "How did you survive?" "Same way your friend did. Luck. And that's something you know about hmm? Luck." He sneers, "And now it's run out for you." My electronic bonds disengage and I fall face first onto the floor. He steps weakly onto my back and presses on my spine. I begin to hear the sound of my joints popping underneath my damaged arm. The edges of my vision begin to fade into darkness, and I feel myself slipping until I remember the one thing that might save us all. The UNSC. Most Spartans have small distress beacons built into their armor that can be activated manually. Mine was shattered with the crash, along with Eden's and Nikki's. But maybe Ak's could've survived by a stroke of sheer dumb luck. I look at my TACPAD on my wrist, gazing at it. I summon my mind, activating my neural link and access my teams list of distress beacons. Eden's, Nikki's, and my names all have a red X next to them. But by the name Andrew-908, is a small green check. I quickly activate it, and the small screen reads: "Beacon activated." Now to get them up and running. I search through the other menus, and locate the automatic BioFoam, an almost magical healing formula used for a temporary substitute for first aid, which I hadn't thought to use until now. All of our names read "Waiting" I eagerly reach forward and press the "Activate" button, and the ranger notices. He releases me from his choke hold and rears towards my face. "WHAT WAS THAT?!" he roars in outrage. I can already feel the biofoam activating, relieving my pain and restarting my damaged organs. I can do nothing but smile and calmly answer, "The cavalry's coming." Behind me, the other three Spartans awaken, as if by magic. I uppercut the ranger and spring to my feet. My squad looks up at me in amazement. "No time for questions, this biofoam is good but it won't last forever. Let's get a move on." Chapter 12 or somethin' (It's late so this might be subpar) The biofoam brings me back to almost my full strength, so I punch the ranger again and he drops to the floor, unconsious. I grab his plasma repeater, about the normal size of a rifle, and check over my team. The biofoam worked wonders getting them awake but they already don't look good. Eden and Nikki are maintaining a normal pose, but AK seems to be extremely weak. He's barely standing and is about to fall forward. "Eden," I say, because she seems the strongest, "take care of AK." "I'm fine, Sir." he coughs, staggering forward. I give him a questioning look and he goes limp. Eden picks him up and slings his emaciated body over her shoulder. I toss the plasma repeater to Nikki, who fiddles with the controls, accidently unloading a couple of rounds into the downed Ranger. "Woopsies," she chuckles. I smile and survey the room. I locate a tunnel, lined with gold plated designs and columns, similar to the chamber we're in. I turn and jog down the corridor as fast as possible, noting the lessening of my limp and the strength in my arms. I pull out the pistol I salvaged from the wreckage and gun down any resistance I see. The escape is starting to seem plausible when two black knights, each armed with spear-like weapons, jump out at us. One of them lands on Nikki's back, knocking her to the floor and sending her rifle spinning away. I reach for my sword but find that it's been taken from me. I draw my combat knife from it's sheath and brandish my pistol with a shaking hand. The two knights chuckle and attack as a syncronized pair. They both swing their pikes at me and I drop to the floor and barely miss getting a haircut. I reach inside the swings and try to stab one of them with my knife but I whif. One of the elite knights hits me in the head with the blunt side of his spear. My vision blurs and I drop to my knees, which saves my life as the next spear once again barely misses my head. I fire a shot at one of the knights, but it only disrupts his shields for a second. He does stagger back a bit, so I kick his shin and he almost topples. I catapault into the air and land on his shoulders. I drive the blade of my knife through his skull and he slowly falls to the floor. I pick up his fallen spear and beat away the other one's strike. Without his partner his attacks are less effective and I quickly find an opening. The spear shreads his armor like butter and sinks up to the bottom of the blade in his body. I pull out the spear and place my knife back in it's holster. I pick Nikki up and toss her the other spear. She catches it and the four of us continue out trek to freedom. Chapter of Climaxes! We rush as quickly as we can through the hallways, Nikki and I dispatching the guards as efficently as possible while Eden is forced to lug Ak's carapace behind her. Even though we seem to be moving quickly, I can't tell one hallway from the next, and we seem to be making very little progress. I begin to notice my limp returning, along with the other teammates struggling. We better find an exit soon or else this escape will be nothing but a bust. As the biofoam's effects are becoming weaker and weaker, I see a beautiful sight: stairs. They lead up to what I think is some sort of hatch in the ceiling, we must've been underground the entire time. No wonder the UNSC couldn't locate the place. The sun outside shines warmly and welcoming and we all dash towards it, invigorated by the promise of escape. As we start to climb the steps however, Eden stumbles and drops AK. She bends to pick him up when a strange blue-ish plasma bolt erupts from the shadows. Eden's shields flicker and die, and Eden falls to the ground. Nikki and I brandish our weapons at the attacker until we see that that are far too many, almost a dozen Elite guards, all holding some sort of tazer, which bristles with energy. The leader of the Black Knights splits the grouping and approaches us, holding out the hilt of an energy sword. "How did this happen? We're smarter than this!" Nikki exclaims. "Apparently not," I grunt, "So, what happens now?" "Simple," he says, "I kill you, and when your reinforcements arrive, I'll kill them too." "Not so simple," I say, brandishing the spear weapon. The elite flicks his wrist and the sword activates. A familiar yellow light fills the room as I recognize the sword. "You stole my sword!" "And now, I will kill you with it." he says, and then he charges. I swing the spear and meet his first strike as Nikki tries the stab him in the side. The guards stand in a circle around us, under orders not to interfere. Elites and their honor. I spin away and attempt to get a stab at him from beyond his reach. He lunges forward and blocks the strike. The sword would've sliced the spear in half had it not been made of some extremely durable metal. I swing the blunt end at his face, dazing him. Nikki goes in for the kill before I see the feint. The elite isn't as dazed as I thought, and he lashes out at Nikki, she dives to the side but he grasps her shoulder and throws her to the ground. I tackle him before he can finish her and drive the spearhead towards his face. He throws me off and punches me square in the face. Without shielding, my vision goes slightly dark. He stands over me and picks me up until our eyes are level. I try one desperate stab at his abdomen, but he throws my spear to the side. Nikki stabs at his blind side but he expertly dodges and knocks her out with his free hand. "I'm doomed," I think to myself. He sets me on my feet and draws back my sword. In one last act of hatred I draw my knife and stab him in the thigh. I withdraw the knife and go for his head as he roars in pain. I think I might actually score a killing blow before his arm swings the sword, before the blade slices threw the air, before I feel the cutting, searing pain below my elbow, as my knife drops to the ground and the bottom half of my right arm is severed cleanly from my body. I double over in pain and he elbows me to the floor. The elite stands over me, ready to drive the sword through my heart. Chapter of even more CLIMAXES! Several things happen at once. The ceiling above our heads explodes and rock rains down. UNSC marines and even a Spartan squad drop down, all of them mowing down the guards surrounding us. The elites in the room don't even have time to draw their rifles before they are all lying in small, bloodied mounds on the floor. The leader of the Black Knights deactivates the sword and throws his hands into the air in surrender. Three spartans in black and orange armor walk up to the pair of us. "Spartan Alex-712, I presume? Looks like you've got yourself quite the battle scar." the first one says, pointing at my half of an arm. I grimace as the full force of losing part of my dominant arm is an extreme loss. Sure there aren't that many veterans out there without some sort of amputation, but it's tough when your main fighting strategy revolves around an energy sword. Which that elite used to slice my arm off. "Been through worse," I finally reply to the spartan, even though I haven't. "This is the leader of this so called 'terrorist group'. Feel free to shoot him." The elite looks at me with a horrified expression. "Please, Don't, I'll...I'll do anything!" he stutters. "First of all you can give me my sword back." I grumble, and the elite complies. The hilt feels strange in my left hand, but seeing as how my right hand is somewhere ten feet away, I make do. I flick my wrist and the yellow plasma blade snaps into view. I smirk down at the elite and slice his right arm off at the elbow. He sobs in desperate pain, clutching the stump of an arm. He glances up at me, tears glinting in his eyes...no, not tears...cleverness. He stands up and activates an energy dagger hidden in his wrist plating. Before I can move, two of the spartans are dead and he is holding the last one in a headlock. I count seven marines holding assault rifles at the elite's head. The odds are not in his favor, and he knows it. He drops the spartan, and presses another button on his wrist. Ten cannons pop from the scorched walls and rain down plasma fire on us all. He dodges behind a column, but not many others get so lucky. All seven marines are cut down, and the spartan takes about three shots to the chest. He staggers towards a fallen rifle when the elite plunges a dagger into his faceplate. I snarl in inhuman anger and charge the elite, who places a kick to my face. Still not wearing my helmet. I think to myself. I reel backwards, trying to pinpoint which one of the three elites I see is the real one. When my vision clears, there is a hand wrapped around my neck, sqeezing tight. I would be dead already if he wasn't down an arm like me. However, I feel his hand clenching ever stronger, strangling my windpipe and forcing my vision into darkness. I don't see anyway how I can get out of this, when the hand goes slack. The elite careens to the side and topples to the floor. I rub my neck with my good hand and gaze at the carcass before me. A smoking hole in the side of his unmoving head. I look around the room, and locate the gun man, er, gun woman. Eden is standing on one knee at the bottom of the staircase, holding the pistol I'd given her earlier. The barrel still smoking and her hand trembling from the aftereffects of the EMP blast she took minutes ago. "Nice shot soldier," I say with a small smile, "Now help me pick up Nikki and AK, we've got a dropship to catch." Epilogue (Resolutions and Denouements and such.) I awake on a cold metal table with my hands tied to a table. As groggy as I am, my mind instantly snaps into awareness. My body is completely strapped down, and I have no armor on. I'm draped in some sort of hospital gown, no shields or technological enchancements whatsoever. After spending most of my time in a half ton of metal armor, I feel exposed and weak. I try to break the metal bracelet binding me to the table. Solid. Unbreakable, especially considering that I'm not in the best of conditions right now. I see rows of IVs and other fluid drips plugged into my arms. There are most likely gallons of genetics pumping through my veins right now, and I can feel it. The artifical strength in my muscles, the fake alertness that my desperate senses cling to. My consious is fading in and out of comprehensiveness. I've been to and from the brink way to many times in the past week, and now that the adrenaline from the events is gone, I can fully appreciate how absolutely horrible I feel. I groan softly and tug at my bindings again. Then I realize something. My right arm, despite being half it's original length, it feels heavier than the usual. I use almost all of my strength to move my head over and see what's there. A metal apparatus sprawls from the stump of my arm. Mechanical joints and gears whir around hypnotically beneath the holes in the smooth metal plating. At the end of the arm is a five fingered hand with visible wires and hydrolics. I almost vomit in apprehension. It once again hits me fully. I've lost my arm. My dominant hand, the one I use for fighting, is gone, forever. My entire skill set might have to be re-evaluated because of one dumb elite. At that moment, two figures walk into the room. One of which I recognize as AK, wearing all his normal armor despite a helmet. The armor glints and shines, and I can tell it's brand new. He's limping, and his breathing is still ragged, but atleast he's still alive. The other man is exceedingly thin, with very wiry hair and a playful face. "Hello, I'm the doctor!" he says in a cheerful british accent. "No offense sir, but you look horrible," Ak chuckles, leaning on a metal pole that seems to be a walking stick. "And neither do you," I reply hoarsely. "Well, Captain, it seems your due for a debriefing down at command, if you're up to walking, I'll release the clamps and let you go, but you better get right back to this ward later." the doctor explains, pressing a switch that retracts the clamps. I raise my mechanical arm, twisting it in the light. It seems to be extremely high-tec, even connected into my nervous system so I can move the finger appendages. I clench and unclench a fist, and use the arm to push myself up. The hydrolics overwork themselves and I pitch onto the floor. "Ow." I mutter, picking myself up. "They'll have to fix that up later," The doctor says as AK stifles his laughter. "AK, shut up." I murmur, "Alright let's go." *** AK and I walk alongside each other down the hallway toward command. I glance out of the window, I recognize that we're stationed on Reach. "Terraforming's going nice out there," I say, glancing at the landscapes slow recovery from the recent plasma bombardment. "Yeah," Ak says wistfully, "I was actually born here, my family died in the glassing. I never really forgave the covies for that." "Sorry to hear that." I say quietly. "I never knew my parents. I was conscripted for the Spartan program when I was six." "So!" I say, changing the subject, "What happened to Eden and Nikki?" "They're still in surgery. Believe it or not, Nikki was in really bad shape, she tried to control the pelican's crash, took a lot of shrapnel, It'll be weeks before they finish picking the metal out. They'll probably be able to rebuild the entire pelican with what they pull out of her," he jokes. I try to laugh, but my lungs hurt too much. "And Eden?" I cough "Pretty bad shape as well. She'll be laid up for days, part of the wreckage rested on her legs until you all found her. Docs say she'll have quite the limp from now on." Hearing all this tears at my heart. My squad, the closest thing I have to a family, laid up and injured horribly, and I in too bad of a shape to help them. "And what about you?" I ask. Ak gives me one look that tells me he doesn't have the energy to go through the details. We walk in awkward silence to the briefing room. There, five official looking ONI spies gaze at us. "You are dismissed, spartan-908." rasps one of them. AK turns and walks out of the door. "Spartan Alex-712, correct?" says the second ONI member. "Yes," I choke out. "You've seen some real heck haven't you?" smiles the member on the left, earning glances from his colleagues. "Anyways, this meeting is just to let you know that you and your squad have been granted the maximum alloted time to recover from the massive injuries you have sustained. Your squad is not required to comply with general schedules on station for the next month. We have also found spartan squads able to fill up your team's position in an upcoming raid or two, as long with the Grifball tournament next week. You are released to wait until you are given further instructions. I walk slowly back towards my ward, dragging my arm and the strange metal contraption behind me as I slump towards the ground. About five minutes later, I manage to find my hospital ward again and slump onto the metal table and fall into unconsiousness. Da End. Category:Halo